How does FHSA carry-forward work?
Unused FHSA room carries forward, but at most $8,000 of it. So a year’s room is never more than $16,000, however long the account has sat empty: opened in 2023 and never funded, it is $16,000 in 2026, not $32,000.
You have $89,000 of TFSA room.
You
TFSA
$89,000 room this year
Your room started in 2013, the year you turned 18: $89,000 in all through 2026.
FHSA
$16,000 left to put in this year
Opened in 2023: $16,000 of room this year — never more than $16,000, however long it’s been. $40,000 of the $40,000 lifetime limit is left.
It has to close by the end of 2038 at the latest.
RRSP
Your RRSP limit is on your latest Notice of Assessment, under “RRSP deduction limit”. Type it, or what you earned each year since you arrived, to see what’s left.
CRA’s account shows TFSA room as of 1 January and adds last year’s transactions only in the spring, so from January to about April it can show more room than you have.
Contribution Room estimates your contribution room from the rules the Canada Revenue Agency publishes and what you enter. It is not tax, legal or financial advice. Your CRA account and Notice of Assessment are the official record: check them before you contribute, and ask a tax professional about residency or anything unusual. Contribution Room is not affiliated with the CRA.
US citizens and green-card holders: a TFSA is generally not tax-free in the US; ask a cross-border tax professional first.
Room starts only in the year you open your first FHSA, even with nothing in it. An FHSA you never opened has no room at all, which is why people open an empty one early.
The lifetime limit is $40,000 of contributions and RRSP transfers together. Growth inside the account never uses room. Taking money out does not give room back, except in the narrow case CRA calls re-participation room.
The FHSA must close by the end of the year of its 15th anniversary, the year you turn 71, or the year after you use it to buy a home, whichever comes first. Opened in 2023, that is 2038 at the latest.
Sources
Checked against the CRA’s pages on 2026-10-18. The CRA’s records are the official ones.